Young Socceroos can savour World Cup 'shop window'

Australia's rising teenage soccer stars have learned they'll be facing Japan in the semi-finals of the Under-20 Asian Cup this week, as their coach delighted in his Young Socceroos also enjoying the chance of a lifetime at a World Cup later this year.

Trevor Morgan's enterprising side were left tearful and ecstatic after their double success on Saturday, in which they not only booked a place in the Asian Cup semis with a thrilling 3-2 comeback win over Iraq, but also sealed their qualification for the global under-20 event in Chile later this year.

On Sunday, the youngsters could enjoy a spot of "R and R" in Shenzhen as Japan were busy defeating Iran in a penalty shoot-out to set up Wednesday's semi-final.

Rion Ichihara scored the winning spot kick as Japan won their quarter-final 4-3 on penalties after the match had ended 1-1 at the Shenzhen Youth Football Training Base Centre Stadium.

Morgan believes opportunity really knocks for his side - nearly all of whom are still in their teens - and not just this week, when they they could become the first Australian team to lift the junior Asian title after the class of 2010 came closest, losing in the final to North Korea.

Looking towards September and October's U20 World Cup, he can see even greater opportunities for his squad, who largely ply their club trade in the A-League Men.

"Obviously I'm super proud of them," said Morgan, having watched his side win all four of their matches so far in China.

"For the boys themselves, it's a life goal to get to a World Cup. They've achieved qualification and had to do so with some adversity.

"They had to show their fighting spirit. They had to come back, and they produced the goods.

"These under-20 teams exist to give players exposure in high-level tournaments, so that one day they might be a Socceroo.

"They now get the chance to go to the World Cup, a condensed period of time in their life where they'll play the best teams in the world at their age, and have the chance to measure themselves against the best players.

"And also there's the opportunity for them, potentially the shop window that their career might change based on performances at that level.

"So there's a lot at stake, and it's great for the boys to achieve that opportunity."

The resilience of the team was really tested when they twice had to come from a goal behind before beating Iraq with three cracking strikes from Luka Jovanovic, Panagiotis Kikianis and Alex Badolato.

"Up against top opponents, they've been tested before and one great thing about this group is that they keep going, they keep trying to take the initiative in games, and they reaped the rewards from that," Morgan said.

Next up they face a Japanese team who have already been held to draws in two group games, while Australia have a 100 per cent record after group wins over the Kyrgyz Republic (5-1), Qatar (3-1) and hosts China (2-1).

"This team always prepares to win the next match," Morgan said. "That's been our goal ever since we came together."

The other semi-final, also on Wednesday, pits South Korea against Saudi Arabia, with the final to be staged next Saturday at Shenzhen's Bao'an Stadium.